What Does Mark 10:36 Mean?
He said to them, What would you have me do for you?
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?THE KEY
Before anything is done, Jesus asks you to bring the desire beneath your request into words.
THE MEANING
Your desire is not left vague: the question gives it room to become spoken and specific. What you want is placed beside what you are asking another to do for you.
THE ROOT
θέλετε
thelete
GROWS FROM
θελ-
The Greek verb θέλω (thelō) means to want, will, or desire.
The form translated “would” names the disciples’ present wanting. Its word family keeps desire, willingness, and what is willed close together, bringing the intention beneath a request into the open.
ALSO GROWS
thelēma: Will, desire, or what is willed.
θέλημα
It shows that wanting is an intention with a shape, not merely a vague feeling.
thelōn: Willing or desiring; the one who wants.
θέλων
This form keeps the focus on a person actively willing something, as Jesus’ question does.
THE PATTERN
A question can make room for desire to become visible, whether it is spoken directly or carried in a groan.
Lord, all my longing lies open before you, and my groaning is not hidden from you.Then Jesus turned and watched them following, and said to them, What do you seek? They said to him, Teacher, where do you stay?Jesus answered and said to him, What do you want me to do for you? The blind man said to him, My teacher, that I might look up again.THE THREAD
Jesus answered and said to him, What do you want me to do for you? The blind man said to him, My teacher, that I might look up again.The same Greek verb for wanting appears in this near-identical question. James and John name a desire for status; the blind man names sight, showing how the answer brings the desire beneath a request into view.
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